Welcome to The Do It Yourself Estate Sales Guide

November 1, 2009

Thanks for visiting the Do It Yourself Estate Sales Guide

…There’s a lot more here than just another guide…

We have compiled some of the best research tools on the internet to help you find out about estate sales values, where to find an estate sales professional in your area, and we teach you how to take care of the difficult process of downsizing or selling the personal property of your loved ones.

…And we do this with Respect.g

The DIY Estate Sales Guide

Links To Estate Sale Articles
links of rusty chain

Read All About It Here

Articles That Come With Kit

…Check Out These Links On Our Sister Sites…

Estate Sales Company’s Listed By City

Fine Estate Sales and Estate Liquidation, Inc.

…Here’s an article about one family members struggle at the loss of a loved one…

The Loss of a Loved One

Take Care and Good Luck

Martin Codina


Guys like to go to estate sales…It’s a fact!

January 9, 2009

Guys go to estate sales

to find tools -

they love tools,

but the tools they want to find,

are the tools necessary to run one.

Read about it here: Do It Yourself Estate Sales Guide

Order Our Guide Here: Do It Yourself Shopping Cart


You Know You’ve Properly Planned Your Estate Sale When

December 29, 2008

You Have Taken These 7 Steps:

1. Have Found The
Surprises.

2. Know That The Proper
Time Has Passed.

3. Have gathered all the
necessary tools.

4. Know How To Price This
Or Anything Else You Find.

5. Have A Game Plan.

6. Know Where To Advertise.

7. Have Purchased The Do It
Yourself Estate Sales Guide.

The Do It Yourself Estate Sales Guide.

Fine Estate Liquidation.


4 Things About Estate Sales That Still Surprise Me

December 16, 2008

1. People throw things away instead of selling them at an estate sale.

2. People still don’t understand that some common things have “collectibles” value.

3. People could buy most things from an estate sale, that they might buy from a store.

4. People wish they knew where they could find the Do It Yourself Estate Sales Guide.

People throw things away instead of selling them at an estate sale.

It’s a fact that everyday people throw away many items from their homes, or the homes of people who have passed away, not knowing that there are other, more economical ways of dealing with a household’s contents.

Have you ever heard a friend say “My Mom threw away my comic book collection”, or “I use to collect Barbies.”

Selling the household contents of a decedents personal property at an Estate Sale makes good sense, especially in hard times like these.

People still don’t understand that some common things have “collectibles” value.

A Zippo lighter like the one pictured, could sell for as much as $450.00 or more. Here’s something to ponder and think about. “Is it possible that the thing that I am about to throw away has a hidden value.”

The reason that there is an explosion of collectibles being sold today is because so many people have tossed or thrown away many once common items.

Look here for a short video of some surprisingly valuable items that people commonly throw away

People will buy most anything at an estate sale, that they would buy from a store.

Do you have to have a fancy estate to do an estate sale? No! Does your house need to be filled with priceless antiques to do an estate sale? No! Must you have fancy jewelry or fine art? No!

Of course having any combination of those things will help your estate sale, but they are not necessary.

At our estate sales we sell all manner of common everyday items; furniture, pots and pans, and clothing.

Here is my order of estate liquidation.

  1. Try to sell it.
  2. Try to give it away.
  3. If you cannot do 1 or 2 then it’s OK to throw things away.

People wish they knew where they could find the Do It Yourself Estate Sales Guide.

Now that you have found the Do It Yourself Estate Sales Guide, you can let others know.

I have put this estate sale guide together for you. My modest sale price of $39.95 for the guide is small compared to the thousands of dollars you can generate from a well run estate sale.

Follow the link to read about the benefits of the guide. I have also made it easy to order my guide through Amazon.


3 Myths about Estate Sales

December 10, 2008

People often think that estate sales are only for the wealthy.

Growing up that’s what I use to think about the word “Estate,” that it somehow described wealth and all of its trappings. But according to the dictionary the word estate only connotes property. A search through Craigslist, under the search term “Estate Sale”  will bring up as many as a dozen estate sales taking place in almost any metropolitan area on any given weekend.

So many people are selling their personal property under that search term, it has caused a large Estate Liquidation industry to be created, and let me assure you, very few in house estate sales are taking place in the homes of the wealthy.

It’s a fact that every weekend thousands of people across this country are either hiring professionals to stage estate sales for them, or they are choosing to do their own estate sale.

No one will want my Estate Sales “Stuff.”

Hey, if I had a photo like the one above, I could, depending on its size, sell it for $5.00 – $20.00. When you start to multiply these kind of prices, times the total number of items that are part of your estate sale, it starts to add up very quickly.

Look at my Surprisingly Valuable video.

I have to hire a Professional Estate Sales expert.

Before I let you in on how to conduct your own estate sale, I want to validate your concern. It is very important to seek outside advice about the value of your estate sales items. Otherwise you may never know if you are doing the right thing and setting the right value.

My DO IT Yourself Estate Sales Guide, will help you with this.

Another great way to find out about what is possible with estate sales, is to go to some. Check out Estate Sales.Net. There you will find a comprehensive list of professionals in your area who can assist you in determining whether or not you need the guidance of a “Pro.”

If you do decide to hire an Estate Liquidator, here are some questions to ask them.

Martin Codina


Five Important Estate Sales Strategies

December 7, 2008

Don’t throw anything away.

This is the number one rule of estate liquidation. At an estate sale the public will purchase all manner of household items that you yourself might have thought had almost no value.

Take your time, the estate sales process is not without effort.

One of the first things as an executor that you should do, is take stock of the responsibility that has been entrusted to you by the decedent. You were picked by them for some special reasons.

Here are some definitions that might prove to be helpful.

Estate Sale: Is an event that takes place, usually in a home, that sells the personal property of someone who has passed away, moved, or downsized.

Estate Liquidation: Is the term that is best applied to the industry of personal property estate sales, or auctions.

Estate Liquidator: Is a person or company that provides a liquidation service.

Educate yourself about estate sales, but don’t over educate yourself about values.

Read everything that you can about the estate sales process. Learn the right questions to ask an estate liquidator. Read my “Do It Yourself Estate Sales” page.

Search the internet for price valuations, ask experts.

What I mean about not over educating about values is: Price guides for antiques and collectibles are book values, they represent an ideal buyer, who is highly motivated. These buyers are not always easy to find.

The critical factor is time. The more time you put into your estate sales effort, generally, the more income that will be generated.

There is definitely a law of diminishing return to the amount of time that you put into extracting the highest value, versus the amount of revenue that results.

Seek outside estate sales support.

Ask your attorney, friends, and family for guidance. If your estate is large, consider bringing in an estate sales professional for a consultation. Read one of my many estate sales articles at this web site Fine Estate Liquidation for more on this subject.

Take copious notes. Try to not become overwhelmed by the divergent advice you receive – seek out the themes within the advice. And draw up a plan.

Here is my advice: If your estate is of modest value and it cannot afford to pay the sales commissions charged by estate liquidators, you should consider purchasing my Do It Yourself Estate Sales Guide.

Have respect for the decedents property during an estate sale, even if others don’t.

At all of my estate sales I am very clear that I am there to not only act as a fiduciary functionary of the estate, I am also there to conduct an estate sale that maintains order, and civility.

I establish this first in my staff and by restricting shoppers should they get out of line.

I have found that if I maintain my dignity, create and sustain order, that the estate sales process moves more smoothly.

Martin Codina